Poor customer service ....they need competition where they can stop increasing rates and improve customer service .They Destroy trees and allow companies to butcher and kill trees on land we are paying ungodly taxes on..
French Broad Electric is absolutely one of the worst companies I have dealt with over the years. They could benefit from implementation of a comms group or a complete overhaul of communications to their customers. I have now experienced several occasions where they send folks/contractors out to either upgrade lines or spray in general, in and around your property. I fully understand their right to access lines, however - a big however...as many of us live very remotely, have animals and small children, it is not appreciated that there is zero comm sent prior to there accessing of lines..
It is clear this is a back woods and poorly run organization- with a desire to save on phone calls, emails or paper notifications...however if they stepped into this century and utilized the various means of communication available to major companies today...they would get a far better reception..
We as consumers are stuck with these clowns, as they are the only game in town..unless you can go fully off grid...
Ditch your stupid newsletter with bake sales and step up your game.....
Called to get our electricity turn on in our new home . The women who answered started with we are short handed today and the person who you need to speak with is busy and will be for the next 30 mins . I called 40mins until the close of business. This women preceded to tell in a rude non professional way what I needed . How i need to come to the office.
I told her we were moving from state to state and that was not possible.
This office . No customer service! This women should be fired! CUSTOMER SERVICE???? DOES IT EXIST ANYMORE ??? I guess not .
The bad reviews are very silly. I guess when you want what you want now then the reality of situations evade you. The guys were personable and courteous, dug perfect trenches for the line and had us fiber internet after they left. They asked where we wanted this and that but really what is the easiest for the techs is what is good with us and it came out just great letting them do what they do as pro's. Thanks FBEC for the superior job!!! Cheers, Kelly and Wes
High prices and horrible customer service. Too bad they're a monopoly in the area so another company isn't an option. French broad electric is awful!!!!
I got some internet service with the company and worked with Trent and he was very professional, pleasant, and helpful. Even when I got my electric service with this company, the lady was incredibly nice as well (I forgot her name). French Broad Electric has great services that is seamless and stress-free. God Bless you guys!
My experience with them has been great so far. Getting set up required an office visit, but the people were pleasant, down to earth and homey, which is what we enjoy about this rural area. Service was turned on within an hour, and it has been very reliable the entire year and a half we ve been living in Alexander. Their website is very dated, but the payment portal is more modern and easy to set up reoccurring payments. Currently, FBEMC fiber is being installed in our neighborhood, which is VERY exciting. This additional service is answering the needs of our area and I appreciate their initiative.
Very poor & bitchy customer "service", non-consistent billing practices, ridiculous added fees. Forest clear-cutting 100 feet on either side of antiquated power poles, & they use known carcinogen "AGENT ORANGE" to "keep the vines down". Will wreck your property, without hesitation. Go Solar, or even use Duke power if possible. Totally corrupt board of directors with this supposed "Co-op"...
Supper kind and supper friendly they all were too me
Not sure why there are all the negative reviews. I've had no problems with the folks there so far (Marshall office), and everyone has been courteous, helpful and professional. Rates seem to be about the norm for the region.
Opting out of Smart Meters should be easy. This monopoly keeps it too complicated although they claim a few customers have passed all their extensive requirements.
They want medical proof from MY doctor...what about my privacy rights?????? And that's after I get MY doctor to sign a legal paper stating it's their medical opinion that my heath is affected. HAVE THEY EVEN RESEARCHED WHAT THE PULSING DOES TO BLOOD?
People want the Smart Meters out for 2 reasons. .their health is affected & they know the meters cause house fires. Look it up...don't take their word for it.
And even if they grant me the non Smart Meter they want me to take a meter reading with a photo sent by email AND THEN PAY TEN DOLLARS EXTRA PER MONTH (& they get away with it because they aren't under the rules of the utility Commission ...sleeeezy). Can you imagine how much I want to cuss?
We shopped for mini-split heating/cooling air systems and got estimates from $3,000 to $10,000 to replace old window units. Some told us to expect 3 days to install 2 units. We decided on FBEMC and were not disappointed. Their independent 3 man crew efficiently installed both units, cleaned up and were gone in less than a day for much less than the maximum estimate we received from others. Very pleased...Great job !
Great company, great people. Always quick to answer the call.
for the most part I don't have to call him for anything and I do like that they have their power lines buried. However their customer service is very lacking in the company is so far behind on times. I asked him about solar power and if I had something installed and it took over what would be over the power they told me that I still have to pay fees for the line and nothing would go back into the grid unless they installed a special device that they don't want to install. And now today I had a power outage that was scheduled there in with no communication and was pretty much told that they had no way or plan to communicate with people. every time we deal with something like this it reminds me how far behind the times they are and they really need to look at updating more of their stuff and have better communications
We have had French Broad Electric Service for many years and have never had a problem. The negative reviews don't quite seem to match up to my experience over that time. The staff are always helpful, polite and friendly. The service uptime is even better than that of Progress Energy when I lived in Asheville. No small achievement considering the terrain they serve.
I would like to take this moment to share my experience with the crew at French Broad Electric. I purchased a second home in Sandy Mush which is located just 25 mins from downtown Asheville. We are in a very rural area where everyone has 20+ acres and it is a beautiful unspoiled area that will remain that way for generations to come.
Since my first encounter with both office staff and service engineers I must say hands down it has been by far my best experience with an electric company ever. I have dealt with power companies in Florida, New York, Arizona and French Broad and continues to out perform.
Recently we bought an 80 acres farm with 2 home-sites. We had a lot of need for answers and service. Each and every person at French Broad were courteous, Knowledgeable, friendly and went out of their way to help.
My most recent encounter was to try and shut off a Crime light aka Security light on my Farm. We believe in the night and appreciate the darkness and serenity as the sun sets for the night. I had the privilege to work with Greg F. who spent a lot of time with me sorting out the options with regards to the Pole and the light. I want to thank French Broad for being such an amazing power company and I appreciate that they have taken time to carefully train their staff satisfaction guaranteed. I also applaud them for having Greg F. and the others staff who also assisted in my dilemma with the light and with their help in restoring power to the 2 home sites.
I appreciate you French Broad!
Sincerely,
Glenn
Every experience I have had with the employees of FBEMC has been positive. They are kind, patient, and willing to answer my questions - true customer service in a time when it is lacking in many industries.
If I could give 0 stars I would.. with our main breaker off and no one living in the home(which is for sale) light bill is still$100 a month for 900 sqft!!!!
Power has now been out for 3 hours. It is 40 degrees outside with no heat and no backup heat in my house. I figured I would head to bed and it would be back on when I got up 3 hours later and still nothing. Thank god my house is well insulated maybe we can survive the night but if not and I am froze to death in the morning just know they are liable.
I am very disappointed. I have had Duke energy for years and we are moveing ten miles and so it put us out of there district so we have to go with French Broad. My first experience was wonderful they were polite tried working with me and now that we are done to getting the electricity turned on it s like I can t get anyone to answer and when they do I get told the person I need is not avalible and so I leave a message and hear nothing back. I tried for two weeks a message everyday and only one call from them back with no answers. I even called for a supervisor and have still not heard anything back. I am almost to the point I wannasell my house just to move to another electric company. Any advise is appreciated because this is all we are waiting on?! I try to stay positive but when I get the phone answered by someone who is rude and negative and can t make my situation easier it doesn t help. Makes me feel like they are perpously going out of there way to make this difficult. This is not ok and not ok to treat people.
Terrible experience all around with this electric company. If you can use Duke, you should.
We bought a new Farm and had an issue with an existing power pole which was was stopping us from being able to expand our driveway. I contacted French Broad and was greeted by a female staffer who was kind and polite and redirected by call to service. I then spoke to another very nice person in Service who offered to send our a person SAME DAY! I was contacted and missed my chance due to connectivity issues with my mobile phone point of contact.
I did not even need to call back to schedule I received a call from Brent who offered to swing by the following morning and 30 minutes later Brent was up at the property with a smile when he greeted me. Although the reason for the visit was to try and have the pole relocated we also had other questions about power on the farm. Brent took his time with me and was willing to spend some time offering answers to our questions and provided several options for us to consider.
We appreciate having the opportunity to work with Brent and he went so far as to offer me to continue to work with him when we decided to make a move. He is very knowledgeable and friendly and the visit gave us a chance to make a decision which would be best for us.
I thank you Brent for offering great service and I applaud French Broad for continuing to out perform and be so accommodating. We appreciate all staff we have ever encountered on the phone and in the office and on site a great bunch of people who go far an beyond to offer the best service I have ever encountered by a power company!
Kind Regards,
Glenn & Donna
I have read recent negative reviews and I have to say that my eperience has been completey the opposite. We have been with this emc for over 3 years and in that time I have been incredibly impressed with the efforts that FBEMC has put out through its mini/split heat exchange program. We have two that were installed at different times and each time I have been impressed with our savings, the process and the installers. This EMC's monthly newsletter, The Electrifier, has been great as a place to find things and a format for advertising.
I can't say enough good and have never had a bad interaction in their office or my home.
A few of the negative reviews seem to be based on things that we as consumers should address directly to our EMC. I'd be happy to be part of the Great Green Ask, in a letter to the newsletter perhaps?
They have always operated fairly with my family and I. The guys on the trucks keep the power on and know what they are doing. Very community serviceable.
Just had FBMEC broadband fiber internet service installed. Installation process went well thanks to Stephen and all the crew. Really have enjoyed the first day of service. Thanks for bringing it to Madison County.
These people make an art out of inneficency. I honestly think they make an extra effort to make things more complicated in spite of the customers they seem to hate. I have never dealt with a company that had made it more difficult to setup new service, especially if you are an existing customer. Regardless of what you provide, it is never enough. They rely on 1970's era fax technology and multiple direct office visits, common in that era to establish service. Bottom line, you live in the boonies and have no other options and they will continually throw that in your face regardless of how polite you are. Get accustomed to disorganized, rude, uneducated people who hate their jobs and the clients they deal with if you are unfortunate enough to be forced to deal with this rural Monopoly.
Have has service with French Broad electric for 35 years never had a problem I just went there to get the paper work done for a temporary pole for a home we are building on our property they were VERY nice and VERY helpful great experience!
We live in Southern Yancey County , Pensacola (Cattail Creek)
French broad is always amazing at the speed they fix our power.
Yesterday the power above us went out .. in the snow storm the trucks are up onto the dirt roads and had it fixed ASAP !
We love you guys and appreciate you
Merry Christmas
On Sunday at 10 am our power went out. It was the result of the biggest snow storm this area has had since 1993. French Broad had our service restored in just a little over two hours. Outstanding response as they had to dispatch a crew in difficult circumstances.
